About

Dragon eggs come in various colors. Judging from the color of Daenerys Targaryen's dragons, the coloring of the eggshell appears to indicate the coloring of the dragon within.[2]

Dragons have been known to lay eggs in a clutch of up to at least five,[3] and a dragon may lay several clutches during its lifetime.[4] Although the subject of dragon mating habits is debatable, some maesters believe that if a dragon never laid an egg in its lifetime, it must be male.[5] Whether an egg has to be fertilized by a male dragon in order to hatch is not known.

There were dragon hatcheries on the island of Dragonstone under the Dragonmont volcano, where many eggs and young hatchling dragons could be found.[4][6] The dragon called the Cannibal was known to attack the hatcheries and eat eggs and newborn hatchlings.[6]

When a new member of House Targaryen was born, it was traditional to place a dragon egg in their cradle. If the dragon hatched, it was considered a sign that the baby was a true Targaryen.[4] If the egg did not hatch, or if the dragon born was weak and died quickly, it was considered a bad omen.[4][6] This tradition continued even after the last dragon died and the eggs stopped hatching,[3] and these dragon eggs were cherished possessions of their owners.[1]

The last Targaryen dragon laid a clutch of five eggs.[3] What happened to them is not known. Whether there are any dragon eggs left in the smoking ruins that were Valyria is not known. On the island of Dragonstone, there is supposed to be a fabled hoard of dragon eggs.[7]

Fossilized dragon eggs are more precious than rubies.[8] Ser Jorah Mormont tells Daenerys Targaryen that one of her dragon's eggs could buy a ship to take her back to the Free Cities. The sale of all three would make her a wealthy woman for the rest of her life.[2]

To Daenerys, the eggs are huge, and are the most beautiful things she has ever seen. They are patterned in such rich colors that at first she thinks they are crusted in jewels, and so large that it takes both of her hands to hold one. When Dany lifts one, she expects it to be made of some fine porcelain or delicate enamel or even blown glass, but it is much heavier than that, as if it were all of solid stone. The surface of the shell is covered with tiny scales, and as she turns the egg between her fingers, it shimmers like polished metal in the light of the setting sun.[15]

The eggs are beautiful colors. One egg is a deep green, with burnished bronze flecks that comes and goes depending on how Dany turns it. Another egg is pale cream streaked with gold. The last egg is black as the midnight sea, yet alive with scarlet ripples and swirls.[15]

Dany feels heat from her dragon eggs, where others feel only cold.[16] This is likely a sign of the magicalintuition that later leads her to place them in the fire of a brazier,[17] then use the ceremony of KhalDrogo's funeral and the great heat of his pyre to birth living dragons.[2]

Lady Rhaena Targaryen's eggs - her first egg hatched into a broken thing that died within hours. She possessed another egg at the start of the civil war, and took three eggs to the Vale with her during the war.[6] Only one egg is known to have hatched,[19] the whereabouts of the others are unknown.

Prince Maelor Targaryen's egg - he was given an egg at birth,[4] which had not yet hatched by the start of the civil war.[6] It is unknown what happened to the egg after Maelor was killed at Bitterbridge.[19]

Five eggs - from the last dragon's clutch,[3] so far undescribed – whereabouts unknown.

Seven eggs - used by King Aegon V Targaryen in the ceremony that caused the Tragedy at Summerhall.[12] Some of these may have been the unhatched eggs mentioned above. Whereabouts unknown, but possibly destroyed by the fire.

King Euron Greyjoy's egg - Euron claimed he had a dragon egg, but threw it into the sea.[20]

The Sworn Sword

The Mystery Knight

Prince Aegon "Egg" Targaryen tells Ser Duncan the Tall that he and his brothers were all gifted dragon eggs while in the cradle. He tells Dunk that there is a prophecy that the dragons will return, and that he and his brother Aemon would often pretend that their eggs would be the ones to hatch.[3]

A Feast for Crows

At the Wall, Samwell Tarly ponders that there were dragons at the Wall two hundred years earlier. Sam thinks about Queen Alysanne Targaryen who had visited Castle Black on her dragon, and Jaehaerys, her king, who had come after her on his own. Sam wonders to himself, "could Silverwing have left an egg behind? Or had Stannis found an egg on Dragonstone? Even if he has an egg, how can he hope to quicken it?" He recalls that Baelor I Targaryen had prayed over his eggs, the other Targaryens had sought to hatch theirs with sorcery, but all they got for it was farce and tragedy.[11]

Lord Hallyne, of the Alchemists' Guild, asks Queen Regent Cersei Lannister that his pyromancers be allowed to hatch any dragon's eggs that might turn up upon Dragonstone, now that the isle is safely back in royal hands. Cersei remarks that if any such eggs remain, Stannis Baratheon would have sold them to pay for his rebellion. She refrains from saying that the plan is mad. Ever since the last Targaryen dragon had died, all such attempts to hatch dragon eggs had ended in death, disaster, or disgrace.[23]

Euron Greyjoy claims to have held a dragon's egg in his hand. A Myrish wizard swore he could hatch it if Euron gave him a year and all the gold that he required. When Euron grew bored with the wizard's excuses, he slew him, even though it had not yet been a year. When Victarion Greyjoy asks Euron to show him the egg, he tells him that he threw it in the sea during one of his dark moods.[20]